Spaceport plan in Texas raises wildlife concerns

Updated 10:59 pm, Friday, June 1, 2012

A proposed spaceport in South Texas could harm endangered falcons, ocelots and sea turtles, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department told federal officials this week — a concern echoed by environmentalists who say the project should not be built on land bounded on three sides by a state park and national wildlife refuge.

The Texas agency raised the environmental concerns with the Federal Aviation Administration, which has the permitting authority for the private spaceport, even as state officials stepped up efforts to lure the SpaceX project.

Despite the concerns, Parks and Wildlife spokesman Tom Harvey said the agency does not have a position on the project or the suitability of the proposed location.

Environmentalists, however, expressed their own concerns over the state agency's anxieties Friday.

"It's a terrible idea, and SpaceX needs to find another place for their spaceport," said Luke Metzger, director of Environment Texas, which has launched a petition drive to stop the project.

SpaceX, a California company, has proposed to build a launch area and control center on the Gulf Coast, about 20 miles east of Brownsville and three miles north of Mexico. The private spaceport would launch up to 12 rockets a year, initially carrying cargo payloads, but eventually including passengers.

Last week, SpaceX's capsule became the first commercial spacecraft to travel to and dock with the International Space Station, making the company a hot property among Texas officials still smarting from the end of NASA's space shuttle program.

Texas is developing a multimillion-dollar offer to encourage SpaceX to build the spaceport in Cameron County. The company also is looking at launch sites in Florida and Puerto Rico.

All three possibilities would launch to the east, over water. Launch sites closer to the equator also require less fuel to reach orbit, said Bob Lancaster, president of the Texas Space Alliance, which is pushing for commercial space development in the state.

"That is why you want a spaceport as far south in Texas as you can get it," he said. "It's basic math."

SpaceX had asked Parks and Wildlife if the company could build the spaceport at Boca Chica State Park, but the agency said no.

Harvey said Texas acquired the parkland, which includes one of the state's best beaches, in part to protect "its unique and sensitive biological values." The state has leased it to the federal government as part of the Lower Rio Grande Valley National Wildlife Refuge.

With the spaceport now proposed for private property, the state agency says it has concerns about the impact noise, heat and vibration from launches, fencing and possible spills of hazardous materials may have on endangered and threatened species.

The agency says the area is home to 34 species protected under state or federal law.

SpaceX spokeswoman Kirstin Brost Grantham said other launch sites are located near wildlife refuges, including Cape Canaveral in Florida and Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.

"This provides general isolation and protection for both the launch site and the preserve," she said, adding that studies of SpaceX's other sites have found no significant environmental impacts.